delineate

The story

1. Latin · borrowed fromdēlīneātus
2. English todaydelineate

First attested in 1559; borrowed from Latin dēlīneātus, perfect passive participle of dēlīneo (“to sketch out, to delineate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from dē- + līnea (“line”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Words from the same roots